Strangers Hire Baby-sitters for Kelly's Gig

Review taken from"THE VIBE" magazine, January 2000

After a year off making babies (don't ask!), Strangers made a welcome return to the scene at Kelly's on Dec 11th. OK, so they re-appeared at other venues some time ago (I remember their very first comeback gig at The Fitchew in Rugby during the summer, and what a comeback!), but this was their first outing at Leamington's leading rock venue in front of a discerning crowd. Formed as "Perfect Strangers" in 1992 as a pop rock pub band, Strangers became a name synonymous with "Classic Rock" played in a punchy style with the power and passion that this type of music demands. Although the band has been together since at least 1992, it didn't really take off until 1994 when Stuart and Rachel Myles joined. The band gigged extensively throughout the Midlands and hit the dizzy heights in 1995 playing live on the TV program "Maynard's Bill". Shortly afterwards, another line up change (14 people have been through the band!) gave an opportunity to change the name to "Strangers" to avoid confusion with other local acts, and again the band gigged extensively. Three years later the band came off the road again due to the aforementioned sprog dropping. The current line up has been together 10 months and are now pretty tight. Despite using a slightly under powered PA the whole band turned in a good solid performance. To be honest though, guitarist Stuart could have played with boxing gloves on and lead singer (wife) Rachel could have sounded like Mel C for all I cared, 'cos my eyes were firmly fixed on her perfect leather clad figure. There's no way this lady has had a baby! Anyway, fortunately they all sounded great with some almost note perfect covers of songs like Thin Lizzy's "Don't Believe a Word" through to the Cranberries "Zombie". My particular favourite was "What's Up?" by the 4 Non Blondes, as the words are easy to join in with. A bit of a warning though, this lot make a lot of use of strobe lighting effects and pyrotechnics during their performance, so if you've got a dicky ticker then stand well back and listen - it's well worth it! Now then, about this baby making lark, were the whole band involved or did specific partners feature? Just a wicked thought! Review for The Vibe by Mark Rush, Warwick. Foot Note The PA was up graded in January Y2K* and the maximum output doubled. This has resulted in a clearer sound with more head room for larger venues. * A further upgrade in 2002 replaced the desk, effects processor and 1 power amp as well as adding the gates for the drums. As a result we got told we were too loud at the Moto Guzzi National Bike Rally - Wimps ! Strangers trying to look moody at Kelly's 2000 If you know of any other reviews please e mail us here.